


Dreams, Nightmares

by FlightlessAngelWings



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Adventure, Adventure & Romance, Dark, F/F, First Kiss, Kissing, Mental Anguish
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-15
Updated: 2020-04-15
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:07:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,078
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23668882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FlightlessAngelWings/pseuds/FlightlessAngelWings
Summary: When the day started, you never would have guessed how it would end. Travelling with the Doctor always meant crazy adventures with the rest of the fam, but this one was different. It started out normal enough, as far as normal went for your lot. The TARDIS landed on Earth in the future, about 200 years or so, in the midst of a war. It was hard for you, Yaz, Ryan and Graham to see your home world like this, but the Doctor kept you focused.
Relationships: Thirteenth Doctor/Reader
Comments: 1
Kudos: 33





	Dreams, Nightmares

When the day started, you never would have guessed how it would end. Travelling with the Doctor always meant crazy adventures with the rest of the fam, but this one was different. It started out normal enough, as far as normal went for your lot. The TARDIS landed on Earth in the future, about 200 years or so, in the midst of a war. It was hard for you, Yaz, Ryan and Graham to see your home world like this, but the Doctor kept you focused.

“We’ve got to be here for a reason, fam,” she told you all, “Let’s see what we can do to help.”

You all agreed and split up to search what looked like a lab. It seemed like it was once an epicenter of scientific breakthroughs, but it was mostly destroyed by the time you all got there. You paired up with Graham and went down one of the building’s wings in search of any survivors. You walked down an empty corridor with a flashlight with the older man by your side.

“So when are you gonna tell her, huh?” his voice broke the silence.

You turned to him with a shocked expression on your face, “What?”

Graham was amused, “The Doc, you like her don’t you?”

“I…” you stammered as you tried to form a response. You didn’t think you were obvious when your gaze lingered on the time lord, but perhaps your friends were more observant than you thought.

He burst out in laughter at your flustered expression. But before he could push the subject any further, a sound from ahead of you dropped the tone dramatically.

“Come on,” you said as you both rushed toward the sound. 

You found yourselves in what looked like an old computer lab. Most of the technology was destroyed, but there was a light coming from the back of the room. Graham stepped in front of you before you got too far into the room. When you shot him a confused look, he told you, “Can’t have you getting hurt on me,” his voice was surprisingly light for the situation, “Or else the Doc’ll have my head.”

Your breath hitched in your throat as you wondered what he meant. But you didn’t have time to think about it, because a figure came into view. You called out to the person, “Hello?”

The figure jumped and raised their hands, “Don’t hurt me!”

“Shh, it’s ok,” Graham stepped forward to calm this person down, “We’re not gonna hurt you. We’re here to help.”

You came out around to stand next to him, “What happened here?” You took a good look at the person. She looked to be some sort of scientist, maybe in her 30s or 40s, but you could see the effects of war and panic on her face. She was stationed at the one working computer, and she was clearly working hard on something.

She relaxed after she took a good look at the two of you as well and decided you weren’t threats. “Sorry, this war’s just taken a lot out of us,” she scoffed, “Well, those few of us that are left.”

“What war?” Graham asked.

She looked confused, “The only war that’s been going on for the last 30 years?”

“We’re not from around here,” you explained vaguely, “But we landed here and the Doctor thinks we can help you.”

“You’re time travelers aren’t you?” a realization came over the scientist.

You and Graham exchanged a glance before you confirmed, “How did you guess?”

She sat down to explain, “We’ve been working on time travel for a while, among other things. But we haven’t gotten very far. If only we had been better with our translation software, I think this entire war could have been avoided.” She went on to explain that a race of aliens visited Earth about 30 years ago, and without proper translation, things quickly escalated into a war that lasted since then. “But maybe that’s where you can help.”

“How?” you asked.

The scientist picked up a small device, “I was able to finish the plans translation software. And I just finished my prototype for a primitive time jumper. If one of you could go back to before this war began and get this to the people that were working on it, maybe it would change how things worked out.”

“Why one of us? Why can’t you go?” Graham asked, but you were both suspicious.

“I need to stay here. I need to keep helping whoever’s left,” she sounded genuine.

Silence took over the room for a few minutes as you weighed your options. This was dangerous and reckless, but you wanted to do something to help. So, you took in a deep breath, “I’ll go.”

Graham’s eyebrows shot up, “No, no, no, I’m not gonna let you do something so dangerous.”

You placed a hand on his shoulder, “I’ll be ok, Graham. You go to the Doctor and tell her everything, and then you all can come get me in the TARDIS.”

He hesitated before he let out a sigh, “You know you’re just as stubborn as the Doc, right? Just be careful.”

You nodded before you approached the scientist, “Ok.” Before you knew it, you felt like you were pulled through the walls, though the fabric of time and you ended up in a bright, sunny field. You looked around as you shook off your dizziness and found a small house in the distance. That must be there you’re supposed to go. You took in a deep breath and you prepared yourself for one of the strangest conversations you were about to have.

Graham left the scientist as soon as you disappeared to go find the Doctor, which didn’t take long. He was nervous; something about this just didn’t feel right. And after he finished with his story, his worries were confirmed as the time lord’s face dropped. 

“Something’s not right about this,” she said in a worried tone, “Let’s get to the TARDIS and go get her.” The rest of the fam agreed and they rushed to their ship.

But when they got there, they were met by someone they did not expect.

“Hello, love,” the Master stood in front of the blue box to block the doorway.

Everyone tensed. “What are you doing here?” the Doctor snapped.

He seemed amused as he fiddled with his fingers, “Just dropping by to see an old friend,” he paused as he met the Doctor’s eyes, “And make a new one.”

Panic took over the Doctor as she immediately thought about you, “What have you done with her?”

The Master laughed, “Always so negative, Doctor,” he paced to step away from the TARDIS, “We’ve just been getting acquainted.”

She stepped right up to him, “If you’ve hurt her,” she started.

“Aww, Doctor, Doctor, Doctor,” he tisked, “If you like, why don’t you just go see her for yourself?” He gestured to the door before he sauntered away. The Doctor’s jaw clenched as the fam watched the interaction with bated breath.

“So, what was weird, right?” Ryan said.

“Even for the Master, it was really weird,” Yaz agreed.

The Doctor swallowed hard, “Let’s go, I don’t like this at all,” she found herself feeling more scared than she had felt in a long time. She only hoped you were ok, wherever you were.

You let out a sigh as you enjoyed the warmth of the sun. It was surprisingly easy for you to convince the scientist of your story, and you left the translation software with them in hopes that the future would be changed. There was nothing around for miles, and the gentle breeze sifted the trees and grass around you. You thought you were alone as you waited for the Doctor and the rest of your friends to pick you up until a voice rang behind you. And that voice somehow knew your name.

You spun around, startled as were met with a face you had never seen before. How did he know your name? “Who… Who are you?” you asked as you guarded yourself.

He opened his arms in an attempt of a non-threatening gesture, “I’m a friend,” he said as he closed the distance between your two.

You didn’t buy it for a second. There was something in his eyes that said otherwise, “That doesn’t answer my question,” you took a step back, “What’s your name? And how do you know mine?”

“Oh darling,” his voice was low as he swooped in on you, “I’m the Master,” he placed his hands on your face, “And you’re going to help me get to the Doctor once and for all.”

You opened your mouth to scream, but nothing came out of your mouth. You hadn’t met the Master before since you joined the TARDIS crew after the rest, but they told you stories about him. The Doctor warned you multiple times that if you ever came across him to run. And you did try, but he was faster than you. The moment his hands clamped onto either side of your face, you blacked out, and your last thought before you fell to the ground was of the blonde time lord.

When you woke up, you found yourself in the same field, only at night time. With a deep breath, you pulled yourself to your feet to look around. The field seemed to be the same, but somehow it had a different feel to it, although you couldn’t quite figure out why. There was no breeze and hardly any light. It was like you were in a void, or a memory of where you were when you passed out.

“What the hell?” you whispered to yourself as you looked around.

Suddenly, you heard a laugh behind you, “Have a nice nap, darling?”

WIth a gasp, you spun around to find the Master. But you were sure you had just looked in that direction and there was no one there. How? You tensed as you asked him, “Where are we? What’s going on?”

The Master tisked, “You are a curious one aren’t you?” he sauntered towards you, “So full of questions. No wonder the Doctor likes you so much.”

Your breath caught in your throat, “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” you chose not to ask another question. You thought that maybe if you played dumb, he would let you go, but that was wishful thinking.

“Oh, I think you do.”

A storm started to form and the wind started to gush around you. You raised your arms to shield your head, but the wind was strong enough to push your whole body back a few inches. For some reason, though, it did not affect the Master at all as he made his way towards you. You looked around again and this time you noticed something: there didn’t seem to be a horizon. The field just went on for a bit, and then abruptly stopped and then there was nothing but blackness.

You pushed your fear down and scowled at him, “Whatever you want, I’m not gonna help you!”

The Master only laughed at you, “But you already are, more than you realize.”

This caught you off guard, “I don’t understand,” your fists were balled into fists at your side and you tried to hide how much you shook.

“Let me show you.”

As soon as he spoke, you heard the Doctor call your name behind you. Your eyes widened and you whipped around to see her as she looked frantically for you. You called out to her, “Doctor!” 

She turned to face you. You couldn’t help but smile as relief washed over you and you ran towards each other. But, as soon as you were close enough to touch, she disappeared.

You gasped, “What?” You turned back to where the Master stood, but he disappeared as well. You suddenly felt very cold, and very alone. Where were you? What was going on? How were you going to get out?

“I can see your heart,” the Master’s voice rang through the darkness, “And I see your memories.”

The next thing you saw was your mother, who you hadn’t seen in years. She looked exactly how you remembered, and her face was stern. You held your breath as she stomped toward you and yelled, “How could you do this to me?!” When she was right at you, she lifted her arm and struck you. “Why can’t you just be normal?” She stuck you again and you fumbled back, “You’re such a disappointment!”

You couldn’t take it anymore and you collapsed to the ground in tears. It was the reason you didn’t speak to your parents anymore. They were always too hard on you, and you often felt like nothing you did was ever good enough. But when you came out to them, it was the tipping point. The memories were too much for you and you broke down.

And then you heard her voice again: the Doctor. WIth shaky limbs, you rose and turned toward her voice that called out your name. “Doctor!” you answered in a strained voice as you slowly stepped towards her. She ran to you again, but just like before, as soon as she reached you, she disappeared.

The cycle repeated a few times, and every time you saw a different memory. Whether it was the little boy that bullied you at school when you were little, your parents that were always short-tempered with you, or even recent trips with the Doctor to alien planets where you were in danger. You could relive that memory, then the Doctor would show up and then disappear.

It was too much for you, “Enough!” You shouted at the top of your lungs.

The Master then walked into your field of view, “Too much for you, love?” he asked without a hint of concern in his voice, “Even I think you’ve gone through a lot, and that’s saying something,” his eyes met yours.

You had a fire in your eyes from a mix of the pain and the rage and the confusion. You gathered everything you had to face him, “Where are we?” Your tone was pointed.

“You haven’t figured it out yet? We’re in my head,” he spun around theatrically, “Where I can control everything and you can’t escape.”

The TARDIS landed in the field where you travelled to and the Doctor immediately bolted out of the doors to look for you. Her hearts pounded in her chest as she feared the worst. She hoped against hope that you were ok, and that the Master was bluffing, but when she found your unconscious body in the grass, her hearts sank. She yelled your name as she rushed over to you.

The Doctor pulled your body into her lap as she checked to see if you were still alive. Behind her, she could hear the rest of the fam catch up.

“Is she still alive?” Yaz asked, her voice laced with worry.

The blonde bit her lip and nodded, “Yeah,” her voice was barely audible, “We have to get her to the TARDIS, quick,” she said as she scooped you up in her arms and the four of them ran back to the ship.

As soon as they were back in the control room, the Doctor lay you down on a bench and grabbed a handful of wires from a compartment, “Help me,” she ordered to the team, who were all too eager to jump in. Ryan and Yaz situated your body so that you could be comfortable and Graham helped the Doctor hook you up to the wires.

“So, what’s wrong with her?” Ryan asked once the screens were lit up.

The room was silent as the time lord made sense of the readings. “It’s the Master,” she started and the tone in the room changed from hopeful to despair, “He’s in her mind.”

“How?”

“What do we do?”

“Will she be alright?”

The overlapping questions made the Doctor snap, “I’m thinking!”

Ryan, Yaz, and Graham fell silent as they watched the Doctor pace. They knew that time was not on their side, but they also knew better than to prod her when she was like this. To be fair, it wasn’t often that the blonde got into a mood like this, and the last time they remembered was when you were kidnapped by militant aliens.

“Alright,” she finally broke the silence, “I’m going in and I’m getting her out,” she wasted no time and grabbed more wires and hooked herself up to the console.

“You sure about this?” Yaz asked as they watched the Doctor.

She met each of their gazes, “I’m sure,” she lay herself down next to you as she positioned the last wire to her temple, “We’ll be back,” was the last thing she said before she finished the connection and fell unconscious.

“We’ll just wait here then,” Graham said in an attempt to lighten the mood.

You lay curled up on the floor as images continued to flash around you. The Master decided to stay in your eyeline as he enjoyed the torture he influcted on you. He noticed that when he pulled up an illusion of the Doctor was when you responded the strongest, so he kept using that against you. After a few rounds, you stopped calling back to the Doctor and chose instead to cover your ears to try to block it out.

But that only made him taunt you more, “There’s no blocking it out, love,” he leaned in close to you so that you almost touched. You could feel his breath against your skin. The feeling of another should have been comforting, but in the case of the Master, it just brought more agony.

“Leave me alone,” you tried to sound strong, but your voice was weak, and it only amused the Master.

“But you are alone,” he ended his statement with your name before he stepped away and all you could hear was his laughter.

It went quiet for a few minutes, and you never thought you would be more grateful for silence. You took a deep breath as you sat up. You brought your legs to your chest and wrapped your arms around yourself as your thoughts drifted back to the Doctor. You wondered if she was ok and what she would do next. Would she think you were dead and move on? That thought made your heart sink.

As if on cue, you heard the Doctor’s voice once more. The cycle started again, and you didn’t move a muscle as she cried out your name. You could see her in front of you, and again you could hear the Master behind you as he watched in amusement. You looked up at the blonde figure with sad, empty eyes as she rushed toward you. You held your breath as you prepared for her to disappear, like all the times before.

But this time, it was different.

Her hands touched your arms and you almost jumped out of your skin at the contact. You gasped as you looked up at her in shock, “Doctor?” your voice was barely audible as your body shook. You didn’t know what to think. You wanted so desperately for it to really be her, but you felt so hopeless, “It can’t really be you. It’s not you,” tears welled in your eyes as you buried your face in your arms.

You felt a soft touch on your shoulders as the Doctor said your name like it was a prayer, “It’s me,” she said your name again, “Look up, please. It’s really me. I’m here,” emotion made her voice raw.

Hesitantly, you lifted your head to meet her eyes, “Doctor?” You reached out slowly to touch her face, and exhaled sharply when she didn’t disappear. “You’re here? How?”

She smiled so sweetly at you, “I’ll always come for you,” she reached out and cupped your face as she took a moment to make sure you weren’t hurt, “Come on, we have to get out of here,” she pulled you up to your feet before you realized.

“How? There’s no way out,” you clung to her coat.

Before she could answer, the Master interrupted. He used a strong gust of wind to push the Doctor away from you before his voice echoed in the darkness from behind you, “Well, well,” he stepped forward so that he towered over her, “How nice of you to stop by, Doctor.”

She grit her teeth as you covered your mouth with your hands. 

“Why are you doing this to her?” she growled at the Master.

He smiled wickedly, “Because it’s fun! And what better way to get under your skin than to go after the person you care about the most.”

This time, the Doctor cut off the Master before he could say anything more, “Listen,” she said your name to get your attention, “You can get us out. You’re the only one who can get us out.”

“Shut up!” the Master pushed her down again as he towered over her and tried to drown out her voice.

“How?!” you cried over the noise, “We’re in his head! How can I get us out?”

The blonde grunted as she strained to answer you, “We’re not in his head. We’re in yours!” The Master growled as he wrapped a hand around her neck to keep her quiet.

Your eyes went wide as you froze in place, “What,” you said more to yourself than anyone. You looked down at your hands as you wondered how you would be able to do anything, “I can’t, Doctor!” you shouted as you felt helpless, “I’m not strong enough!” You desperately wanted to do something, but you had no idea what to do or how to do it.

She strained in the Master’s grip, “Yes you are!”

“How?!” you cried, “How do you know I’m strong enough?”

“Because I love you!”

Your eyes went wide at her confession. Then, you took in a deep breath and focused all your energy to push the Master out. You used the wind, like he did, only your wind was warm and comforting. You raised your arms, formed the thought, and pushed him out of your head. The Doctor gasped as she caught her breath now that she was free of his grip. Your eyes met and you both smiled at each other, and you knew it was time to wake up.

The Doctor woke with a start as she found herself back in the TARDIS. Ryan, Yaz and Graham scrambled to help her up as they all asked what happened. When they got her to her feet, all eyes turned to your body. You were still as they watched with bated breaths for you to wake up.

Sighs of relief ran through the fam as you slowly opened your eyes. Yaz dropped to her knees to help you sit up. “Hey there,” she greeted you with a smile. You didn’t trust your voice yet and only gave her a nod in response. The Doctor suddenly appeared by your side, and as you turned to face her, it felt as if the rest of the universe faded away.

Ryan cleared his throat as Graham called for the three of them to vacate the room, “Let’s give them some space, lads,” he ushered the two younger ones out of the room.

You bit your lip as the Doctor’s eyes held yours in an almost hypnotic way, “Thanks, Doctor,” you finally said, “For coming after me,” you paused, “Again.”

She chuckled as she ran her fingers over the side of your face, “I told you I’d always protect you,” she said, “I’m just sorry I didn’t find you sooner.” The events of your past went unspoken, even if the Doctor was aware of it. She chose not to bring it up.

“Did you mean what you said?” you asked as your heart pounded in your chest.

The Doctor scooted close to you so that your bodies almost touched, “Every word,” her eyes never left yours.

You exhaled with a smile, “I love you too, Doctor.” With that, you closed the rest of the gap between you and crashed your lips on hers. All the tension in the room melted away with your kiss, and all that mattered was each other. 

**Author's Note:**

> I'm honestly kinda nervous about this one, but I spent the time on it so I'm posting anyway. This is loosely based on a dream I had (the past where the Master traps the reader was the dream part)  
> Follow my writing tumblr @FlightlessAngelWIngs


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